Breast cancer and diet

Nutrition Health Review, Fall, 1989

Breast Cancer and Diet

VERCELLI, ITALY -- Women whose diets include high levels of saturated fats and animal proteins are at a significantly increased risk of breast cancer, concludes a study from northern Italy. Researchers at New York University Medical Center conducted diet surveys of 250 breast cancer patients and 499 healthy women in Vercelli, Italy.

Women who consumed about one-half their calories as fat, 13 to 23% as saturated fat, and 8 to 20% as animal protein had nearly three times the normal expected rate of breast cancer.

Women who had a fat intake under 30% of total calories, less than 10% as saturated fat, and less than 6% as animal protein had one-half the risk common to their region.

The breast cancer group consumed more meat and dairy products, including significantly more milk, high-fat cheese, and butter.

Similar population studies have suggested a connection between fat intake and breast cancer, notes Joseph Aisner, Md., director, Cancer Center, University of Maryland, Baltimore. "There is enough of a hint of a relationship that the National Cancer Institute has suggested low-fat diets to reduce breast-cancer risk." However, he cautions that "researchers are unsure whether the fat itself is responsible for the increased risk or perhaps something closely related to the fat."